Protection
by Serah Villiers
Summary: Yugi gets all the protection he needs without even realising it; by surrounding himself with friends. But acquiring this protection is often harder than it seems, and keeping the friends close can be deadly.


**I had intended for this to be a one-shot, but I found a very good place to end it, and I have yet to actually decide how this is going to turn out; many plot ideas for one fic. So basically I have no idea of the length, if it gets good response, and I think of a great plot I will write lots on it.**

**Yeah I know I have several other multi-chapter fics going on at the moment, but I had this ready to be posted, and I thought why not?**

**_~*~Protection~*~_**

Crisp snow covered the grounds of Domino Town Square, the ground was frozen, so no wildlife bothered to disturb the white sheets, which were constantly being added to by the large frozen flakes that lazily drifted from the silver sky.

One flake fell from the heavens, twirling around, caught on a gust of wind. Soaring to dizzying heights, and finally allowing the wind to direct it nearer the ground, about to land with others of its kind its path was interrupted, and landed on the tip of a young boy's nose.

"Yugi! That looks so kawaii!"

The brown haired girl laughed and indicated the piece of ice. The small violet eyed teen crossed his eyes to see the now melting flake that was perched on the end of his small nose. 

This caused the girl to laugh even more, and Yugi frowned slightly as he wiped at the cool liquid with a gloved hand, unable to see the hilarity of the situation.

"I thought it looked so cute!" Yugi, pretending to be annoyed by her antics, walked off in front leaving his friend behind.

Anzu, being much taller than Yugi, easily caught up to him, vainly attempting to stifle her giggles, and also trying to apologise. Yugi has a strong dislike for people thinking that he was 'kawaii', he was very touchy about his height, or lack of, and was equally touchy of his soft delicate features.

"Yugi, I am sorry, please…sorry!" Anzu burst into laughter as Yugi turned around, hands on his hips, attempting to glare at her. But with his large amethyst eyes he couldn't have looked…well, cuter, if he tried.

"I can see the deep regret in your eyes." Yugi turned around and pretended to storm off, again looking too cute for his own good. He only stormed off because he knew Anzu would follow, they were best friends and had been since they met in pre-school five years ago.

He turned a corner, intending to jump onto Anzu when she appeared, but instead ended up bumping into a large figure. Well when you were only four foot tall everyone seems large.

The large figure had company, a blonde boy who was well known in their school, but not for the right reasons. The blonde smirked down at him, as did the boy with a single spike of brown hair. Yugi gulped and attempted to back up, only to bump into yet another figure. This one was truly larger than he was. He realised it was the leader of this little gang; Ushio.

Yugi trembled as Ushio cracked his knuckles, the sickening sounds intensifying Yugi's fear; knowing that it would be his bones next. The three boys walked forwards, surrounding him and closing in fast.

"Hey, you leave him alone!" 

Ushio slowly wiped away snow from his face, the smirk fell and was replaced by a deathly glare in the direction of the brunette, who was busy compacting more snow for a second onslaught.

Yugi took the distraction, and quickly ran from the alley; joining Anzu they both ran for the nearest building which happened to be the school.

They didn't run fast enough. Ushio, Jounouchi and Honda were much faster than they, and soon caught up. Although they were bullies, they had common manners, and refused to hit a girl, instead focusing their efforts on the small boy.

Jou ran up to him and pushed him roughly to the ground, kicking him in the ribs. The pain was increased by the fact that underneath his school shirt Yugi was wearing a golden pendant, pyramid in shape. It was incomplete, but the sharp metal corners had dug into his chest causing even more pain than intended.

Jou realised that he had caused pain, so repeated the action as Ushio joined in. Anzu attempted to jump onto Honda, but was simply pushed aside. Realising she could physically do nothing to help, she ran to school hoping to find a teacher.

Yugi had long ago learned to block out the pain he received; this was not the first time he had been beaten. Silver tears ran down his cheeks and the bullies soon got bored, walking back to the alley.

Yugi laid unmoving, pain coursing through his tiny body, grateful for the numbing effect brought on by the falling snow.

Far in the distance he could hear someone frantically calling his name, but the sound was lost in the icy winds…

**~*~**

_Beep beep beep._

Anzu felt her head droop again, and shook herself awake, forcing her eyes to stay open. She sadly looked at the small figure lying perfectly motionless on the hospital bed, bandages covered every available part of her best friend and it was all she could do to not burst into tears.

She gently reached for Yugi's hand, gently caressing the pale, silky soft skin. The motion woke up the injured boy, and he groaned slightly, pain forming instantly in his head as he fought against the dizzy spell.

"Shh, Yugi rest now. It's okay, everything's fine." As she said this she brushed a golden bang from his violet eyes.

He blinked a few times as Anzu came into focus, and he tried, to no avail, to figure out where exactly he was. The smell of disinfectant, the extreme whiteness, and the beeping sounds all lead to one idea; he was in hospital. That would also explain why Anzu was crying. She was worried…for him?

Yugi wanted to stop the said girl from her crying, but the shooting pain in his chest wouldn't allow him the luxury of sitting up, and the tube down his throat prevented him from speaking. All he could do was watch her sadly.

Eventually a doctor wandered in, having being alerted to his conscious state through one of the many machines he was hooked up to. Writing a few things down on a clip board he mentioned to Anzu about visiting hours being over long ago. The girl nodded as the doctor left, and rose to her feet.

Bending down, blushing madly, she sneaked a quick kiss on Yugi's cheek, and quickly ran from the room. Yugi was still dazed and didn't even register what had happened.

**~*~**

At some point during the might a nurse came in to check his vitals, and unknowingly woke the small boy up. He was feeling slightly better, and dared to move his left hand.

He winced slightly, but the pain was not as great as before. Instinctively he reached for the puzzle around his neck…only to find it missing. Frantically he attempted to sit up in search for the lost item, but pain deterred him.

Grimacing in agony, his head rolled to the side, where on the low table was a shiny object glinting golden in the moonlight. Smiling slightly he reached for it.

As soon as the item was safely back around his neck he felt instantly better, as if a strong force was protecting him. But he felt incomplete, the rest of the puzzle pieces were lying on the table, obviously Anzu had gotten bored and attempted the puzzle herself.

She had meant well, but Yugi could tell that every piece she had placed in was incorrect. He didn't know why, but he could feel a certain energy whenever he placed a piece, and just _knew_ that it was right.

Still lying down, as it was more comfortable for his ribs, he felt the grooves, placing the pieces in whenever he felt a connection and a surge of energy. The puzzle was growing warmer as it neared completion, and was…glowing?

One last piece, Yugi held it with trembling hands, almost afraid of what was about to happen. He shakily brought the last piece; the one engraved with the Wadjet Eye of protection on the front, and clicked it into place.

Yugi gasped as the small hospital room was engulfed in a bright golden light, which receded as quickly as it came, leaving a very confused boy to stare at a now cold, non-illuminated pendant.

Briefly wondering if he really had hit his head too hard, the puzzle flashed golden, and he felt a surge of warm energy flow through his body making him warm and sleepy. As he drifted into darkness, he felt safe and protected.

He vaguely recalled seeing a mirror image of himself standing over him, gazing down smiling. In his dazed state for all he knew it _could_ have been a mirror; but he swore he heard his 'twin' speak as he succumbed to sleep.

"I will always protect you…"

But by morning, any memories of this escaped his thoughts.

**_~*~To be Continued~*~_**

**Please review.**


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